Koprivshitsa: Sofia continued

Day 2 in Sofia saw us head out to the popular town of Koprivshitsa. The town is famous for its architecture which reflects Bulgarian traditional architecture. It was Monday, so the tour buses were very few...in fact only one arrived as we were about to leave. The town was small, but quaint and colourful. It also had numerous little stone bridges connecting the two sides of the town. We roamed the narrow, cobblestones streets and as the rain clouds came over we took refuge in a small...I think the only one...cafe. A latte and homemade cheesecake later the rain stopped and we continued on to our next destination...an hour away. This was the ThracianTombs. The tombs were discovered in1944 and date back to the end of the 4th century BC. It was a very hot, long and challenging drive so we were quite excited when we got there. Paid our small entrance fee and walked it. Although the rotunda was very old, we had expected a lot more there for a very long drive.  A few minutes of looking and we drove to the next tomb...these were well preserved columns in the bush. By this time it was high 30s and the 100 metre walk to the ruins in the scorching bush was a challenge. BR walked a little further as I headed to the old church and discovered a very old and rusted out army vehicle. The church caretaker attempted conversation with me in Bulgarian as he brought me in out of the heat and directed me to sit down. A very basic church, but the original external walls were still intact...that was all I could pick up. Headed for home after our long day of driving. Although the ruins were historically significant I was  disappointed in how small they really were. In two minds whether it was worth the very long drive. I guess the upside is that we got to see some countryside.